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14
Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle www.mn.catholic.org.au
What is the Year of Grace and from where
did the idea come?
The Year of Grace begins on 27 May,
the Feast of Pentecost, and runs until
Pentecost 2013. I don't think anyone would
be surprised to know that the Bishops have
been reflecting on the Australian Church,
considering seriously both its challenges
and its blessings. In this context they've
been wrestling with how to lead the church
into the future.
The Year of Grace is the outcome of that
reflection. And personally, I think it is
at once a simple and brilliant initiative!
Essentially the Year of Grace is an invitation
to everyone in the church to join the
Bishops in refocusing our lives on Jesus.
So they're calling us back to the heart of
our identity. Any group - business, sporting
group, welfare agency, family - needs to
stay focused on what is at the heart of its
shared life or work, particularly when times
are tough.
The primary aim of the Year of Grace is to
know Jesus. The Bishops describe the year
as more about prayer than study; more
like a retreat than a program; more about
conversion or change than education. You
could say it is a year long pilgrimage in
which we are invited to declutter, to travel
lightly and more slowly, so that we wake
up to what is around us, and become more
attentive to God's presence.
A key skill for the Year of Grace is listening
to God's word - in prayer, in scripture, in
liturgy and in life. Of course, listening to
God is risky business. The co-ordinator of
the Year of Grace in Hobart has called it 'a
year of living dangerously' because who
knows what God will ask of us?
The Bishops are inviting us to ask of
everything: What has this got to do with
Jesus?
Imagine asking this of every item on a
meeting agenda. Imagine what new focus
it might bring to the discussion. Imagine
pausing to ask that question the next time
you are asked to do something and you're
not sure how to respond. Imagine pausing
to consider it the next time you get trapped
in one of those conversations that is
more about knocking someone down than
building someone up. What might happen
if you pause to ask it when your teenage
child is in trouble? What would life and
our society be like this time next year if all
who believe in Jesus paused to ask that
question once a day throughout the Year
of Grace?
Is it just for Catholics?
'Yes' and 'no'. Jesus doesn't belong to
Catholics, so there's an invitation for all
Christians to refocus on Jesus and develop
their relationship with him.
The Bishops have let the other Christian
churches know about the Year and they
are inviting us to consider its ecumenical
possibilities. I know some of our priests
have already talked about the Year with
other ministers in their area and the
response has been very positive.
I think too that the Year of Grace could be
a reminder to us, as individuals, as groups,
as members of any religious tradition, to
push the pause button and consider what
we need to do to refocus on what is at the
heart of life. We could all shape the Year of
Grace focus question to speak to us: What
has this got to do with --- love, compassion,
justice, peace, truth, community --- fill in
the blank.
What's your understanding of the term
'grace'?
I saw grace the other day. A woman who
had spent endless hours in a volunteer
capacity planning an important event was
spoken to in a rude and ungracious way.
She responded with great grace. When I
talked to her she said, "When someone
is less than nice to me, I think that maybe
the last person who spoke to them may
have been hurtful and I am just the next
one in the chain. The chain can always stop
with me."
FEATURE
Sr Louise Gannon, who grew up in Merewether, is a Sister of St Joseph,
a teacher, a liturgist, an inveterate tester of new recipes and always, a
gracious presence. Perhaps that's why she's also the local Co-ordinator of
the Australian Bishops' new initiative, the Year of Grace.
For me, 'grace' captures a simple and
wonderful truth -- God loves me, as I am,
and is with me, always and in everything.
God won't stop loving me, no matter how
badly I stuff up. Everything in life is God's
free gift, from the beauty of nature to
the faces of family and friends and the
strangers I meet each day. God is with me
in all the tough parts of life, strengthening
me to be more than I imagined I ever could
be: in pain and sickness, in loneliness and
broken relationships, when life doesn't go
the way I hoped and when I am treated
badly or unjustly. And God is there for
everyone in the same way.
How might people respond to this
opportunity?
The Year of Grace is an invitation so it is up
to individuals and communities to decide if,
and how, they wish to respond. As Bishop
Michael Putney says, there is no program,
just a thousand opportunities! That's its
challenge and blessing. No one is telling
us what to do. It is up to individuals and
communities to work out how they can
refocus on Jesus so our lives and all our
doings emerge afresh from him.
I am amazed at the initiatives people are
already taking. There are conversations
happening about grace and faith and
spirituality and people are asking questions
they wouldn't have asked without this year.
In practical terms, a community might
respond simply by using the Year of Grace
focus question -- What has this got to do
with Jesus? Individuals might commit to
asking that question every day. People
might build some quiet time into their day,
even five minutes. Some might make a
retreat. Families might make a pilgrimage
to their sacred places and tell the children
the stories that have formed the family over
generations. There might be some division
or hurt in the life of an individual, a family or
a community that would benefit from some
healing action.
There will be some organised events,
special liturgies and national e - conferences
in which people will be invited to participate.
What are your hopes for the Year of Grace
in our region?
I hope that we seize the opportunity the
Year of Grace gives us to 'wake up' to the
grace that is all around us and that this
might help us to live more gracefully. I
hope too that the Year of Grace will be an
opportunity for the Church of Maitland-
Newcastle, marked by scars and blessings,
to undertake a spiritual journey into its
heartland where it will wait and listen for
God's fresh start and new direction.
To learn more visit
www.yearofgrace.catholic.org.au and
www.mn.catholic.org.au,
P Louise 4979 1135 or
E louise.gannon@mn.catholic.org.au
Jane Dunn (left) of New Lambton and
Sr Louise Gannon sharing a moment of grace.
By TRACEY EDSTEIN